a running commentary

Sunday morning I awoke to hear unfamiliar voices in our house. I laid in bed for a while trying to think who could be dropping by at 7:30 AM. Confused, I got up and peeked out into the living room to find Nick chatting on the couch with a man and a woman I had never seen before. Still in my pajamas I stared and mumbled an awkward “hi”. Then it suddenly dawned on me: drug testers. Oh, it’s so good to be home.

I don’t know how WADA decides when and who to drug test, but I always feel a little encouraged when they “randomly” show up to test Nick immediately after a good race or season. Maybe it’s silly, but I find it oddly reassuring that he’s running well enough that they want to test him.

Nick’s race in Milan was great. He won in 3:35.17, beating a good field which included the reigning world champion in the 1500 meters, Yousef Kamel. Nick did this off of only eleven workouts this season—and guess what—he’s got eleven more before the Commonwealth Games. I can’t wait to see what he can do in Delhi! We left Italy very encouraged by Nick’s progress thus far and excited about his upcoming races.

The plan is for Nick to race the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York City in two weeks on September 26. He’ll get to race a great field including Bernard Lagat, Leo Manzano, Alan Webb, Andy Baddeley and Amine Laalou. Every single one of these guys are in great shape so it looks like it’s going to be a spectacular race. My money’s on Nick.

This morning, he’s just completed the famous Ron Warhurst “Michigan” specialty workout which includes about seven miles worth of running alternating between tempo pace (5 min/mile) and workout pace (a lot faster ). He closed with a 53 second last 400 meters looking relaxed and effortless. Ladies and Gentleman, he’s back!